Spanish side Levante in the opening match of the second game day at Mundialito played against Braga, but everyone in the team knew that tomorrow will be decisive match with Catania. Edu Suarez scored the only goal for Levante in today’s game. In an interview with BSRussia, the former Spartak Moscow striker said the he was surprised to see such a good level of organization at the tournament. He also confessed he loved Moscow, and told us what exactly helped Levante to get an unexpected victory over Lokomotiv.
- Edu, Levante was very close to catch Braga at some point. Why it did not happen?
- We were expecting a tough match. So it happened. Braga is one of the strongest teams in the world, the current holder of the Euro Winners Cup. Despite the defeat, I can not say that we had a bad match. We had our chances to equalize, but today we were very unlucky. Braga played great and kept the advantage. But we are not upset, tomorrow is a decisive match with Catania.
- When you scored the only goal of your team, one of Braga’s players was laying on the sand. Did you get a chance to have a look on that?
- I was focused only on the ball and did not see anything that was happening around. I don’t think that I did something wrong, because I’m sure that Braga’s player would have done the same in this situation. I stick to the spirit of fair play, but there is a referee on the court, and he is the only one to decide when to stop the game. You can play until you hear the whistle. I did that. I think that high-class referees work here, so they are able to correctly understand the game situation.
- Tomorrow is a big game against Catania. Did you think of saving some power today?
- We take every game seriously and try to show everything that we are capable of. The fight with Braga was not an exception. There are difficult conditions here, a lot of sand, so you get tired fast, but Catania will be in the same situation. Therefore, we are waiting for a very difficult match. We will go "all-in." I think the match will be very close. It is unlikely that one of the teams will be able to achieve big defeat. All we need is victory, and we will fight every second for it.
- Levante started this tournament with a victory over Lokomotiv, which surprised many Russian fans. Was it unexpected for you as well?
- We knew that we could beat Lokomotiv. We have a strong team with a lot of players from Spanish national team. Of course, we understood that we would have to fight, so we did not give up and continued to look for our game, even when we conceded three goals. This is a very important victory for us, so we are very pleased.
- Is this the biggest stadium you have ever played at?
- Of course! This is the largest, most amazing and incredible arena beach soccer has ever been played on. At least from those that I saw. Here we see a fantastic atmosphere, unreal beautiful show. The organizers did a great job, and I really want that Levante could stay here as long as possible. I have played for Spartak for two seasons and I know that Russia is capable of hosting great beach soccer competitions. It's always great to play here.
- By the way, do you have a desire to play in the Russian Championship again?
- You know, I'm happy in Levante. I have an agreement with Napoli for the upcoming season. But I do not exclude for myself the possibility of returning to Russia. I was always happy to play there, this was a fantastic experience.
- Do you have a special wish to play against Spartak at Mudialito?
- To be honest, I would love to play Spartak in semifinal, or even better in the final game. It would definitely be a special match for me (smiles).
- You used to come to Russia only in summer, and now it's the end of winter. How do you like the weather?
- Very cold and lots of snow everywhere (smiles). But I really like Moscow, regardless of the weather. For example, we visited the Red Square with the team yesterday before the match. It is very beautiful there!
- Can we say that it helped you to win?
- Who knows, maybe (laughs).